Just 85 square metres, Meg Cottage sits on a two-title 709sqm section on the corner of Hertford and Merioneth Sts, directly across from St Patrick’s Church, which harks back to the same decade.
Till 2019, the two-bedroom home had been in the hands of the Jenkins family for 56 years — ‘Meg’ was from the initials of the late Mrs Jenkins’ three Christian names, Mavis Elsie Gertrude.
The new owners, a Queenstown couple, had thought the cottage just needed a lick of paint and a tidy-up, but quickly found it was in much worse condition than they’d expected.
The piles below the flooring had rotted away, one of the two schist stone chimneys was dilapidated, the roof structure was stuffed and the picket fence was also past its use-by date.
A halt to work was made while the owners sought council consents.
When local builder Trinity Construction resumed work, with working drawings by NZCAD Ltd’s Steve Henderson, the whole cottage was effectively rebuilt from the inside out, with only the exterior walls being retained.
It was still kept as authentic as possible, however, and what could be retained was repurposed.
The old lounge was turned into the main bedroom, with the fireplace blocked off.
And the original main bedroom and small office were made into a new, bigger lounge.
The second bedroom doorway was moved to allow for a bigger kitchen and benchtop area.
A chaff shed, which formerly included a garage and was on a lean, was straightened and converted to a laundry and storage area, a separate sleep-out was modernised and a new perimeter fence was built.
Meg Cottage is being listed by New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Queenstown agent Gerard Bligh and colleague Hadley van Schaik.
Bligh believes it’s "quite unique to find something with the character and the history combined with the modern, upgraded creature comforts".
The location’s also special, he adds — "you’re moments to the main street, the aspect is very sunny, the elevation’s great, the views are great".
By Arrowtown standards, he says the section’s large and gives the new buyer some opportunities with the second individual land title at the front.
The property’s for sale by deadline sale, closing February 28.
